More Than Rivals
by Grey Lion Cub
Summary: Slate has just returned from three year absence. Why won't his best friend talk to him? Hunter's got a plan to help the situation, this can't end well... SlatexIgneous.


Slate x Igneous

**More than Rivals**

There was always something more between them than they ever spoke of. It didn't take an idoit to see that. Which was why, in Corona's opinion, Hunter had brought it up.

"I just don't get it, if their such best buds why don't they look so happy to see one another?"

The two of them were sittting in the royal gardens with Princess Sparkle, who had left a little while ago for her afternoon lesson. The young madam had invited the two down there after their training with Igneous. At first neither had wanted to go, suspecting the young child to have ulterior motives (most likely caused by romance novels lily read to her about princes and princesses) but neither wanted to refuse Sparkles' child like charm, so both attended pretending nothing had happened.

The conversation about Slate and Igneous had been started by Corona as a way to break the silence after Sparkle's absence had started to weigh down on them. Now she promptly regretted it.

"I don't know Hunter," She brought her cup to her lips to sip at the sweet liquid. "Maybe it's just difficult for them to talk after Slate left so suddenly." She altered her attention to the flowers blooming near them.

"Then why don't we make it easier for them?" Corona looked at him. Hunter had that determined spark in his eye, again.

She made to get rid of it. "No."

"What? Why!" Hunter glared at her.

"No means no. There are certain things you shouldn't ever interfere with Hunter, one of them is relationships." Her tone was dry dispute the refreshing tea she drank.

Hunter backed down a bit and raised an eyebrow at her. "Relationship? Don't you mean friendship?"

Corona's breathe seemed to stick in her thoat as she choked on her tea realising she might have spoken a few more words than she should have.

Hunter seemed to pick up on it. "What are you not telling me about them? Rather, what _happened _ that you're not telling me."

Corona stayed silent and set her cup down with femine grace, letting it clack. Her mouth had gone slightly dry but she wasn't in the mood for cinemon tea anymore.

"I'll just ask you until you do tell me... unless you're in the mood for helping them..."

Corona smacked her forehead and let out an exasperated sigh, she didn't have much choice in the matter.

"=*="

Sparkle loved romance. She may still be too young to start her own saga but it was just as satisfying to watch as one unfolded, and even more so if she had, in her own way, helped it to bloom. Like flowers! But her plans weren't working the way she planned them to...

Hunter and Corona were still _just_ friends, and it didn't look like her efforts to push them forward were doing nothing but making them fight. She had started to worry that they would never see sence in her ways.

She sat peeking out the window at the pair who were _glaring_ at each other -those were supposed to be loving looks not enraged snarls. Honestly, if the world thought on the same wavelength as Sparkle, there wouldn't be so much fighting.

Sparkle turned as she heard the door open from behind her. It was Lily.

"Princess! Here you are. I've been looking everywhere for you! You were supposed to come to your lessons an hour ago, where have you been?" Lily made her way over to the princess' side and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Oh Lily, I've tried everything! Hunter and Corona just aren't catching on at all!"

Lily smiled a motherly smile. Bringing herslf down to Sparkle's height she spoke. "Princess, love dosen't just happen over night. It grows over time by itself. If it dosen't, it won't be strong enough to survive in the world."

Princcess Sparkle just turned away in a huff.

"Perhaps their relationship isn't strong enough, yet. Think about it like this, princess, if you over water a plant it won't grow will it?"

Sparkle faced her. "I guess not...So if I leave them for a while then they'll fall in love?"

"I'm not quite sure it works like that.."

"=*="

Slate sat on the bed of the guest bedrooms of the castle. Being a country boy by nature he was more than uncomfortable with it. The fabrics on the bed were of high quality, as was the linen from the tapistry on the wall. The wood in all the furnature was polished burnt oak -something incredibly hard to come by given the that tree's overwhelming thick shell of bark was niegh impossible to cut through with any saw or blade.

The only thing in room he felt happy with were the flowers Igneous had dropped off on Prince Lumen's behalf. They were the same as the flowers which grew near his hometown, red petals with orange and blue leaves which smelled delicious but tasted nasty. He knew from expirence.

Sighing heavily he hopped down and wandered to the table in the centre of the room. As he reached it there was a knock at the door.

"Come in, it's unlocked."

The door opened and Corona peeked around the corner. "Do you have a minute?"

"Ofcourse." Corona was not an unfamiliar face to him, but he didn't speak very often to her, not even in his earlier days when he was in training to become a knight.

As she entered he pulled out a chair from the table in the cenntre of the room, patting the top as a gesture for her to sit. Corona kept her hand on the door. "Thankyou but I was actually going to ask you to take a look at something for me..."

Slate pushed the chair back inwith a shrug, _anything to get out of this room, _he thought to himself. "What might that be?"

Corona bit her lip and looked musingly at the ceiling. "...It's kinda hard to describe... Y'see, I found this funny looking _thing_ in one of the storage rooms, and it seemed really suspicious..."

" '_Thing_'? Well what does it look like? Are you sure it's not a flower of some sort?"

Corona shook her head. "I don't know... Unless it's some sort of exoitic flower, even then..."

Slate stared at her intently, leaning against the table. "Well, what size is it? Big? Small? Really small?"

"Huge." Corona held her hands as far as she could stretch them. "Absolutely enormous. That's why you have to see it!" She seemed very assured now.

"Okay..." Slate was a little bit unsettled by her abrupt outburst, but he was curious now, and, being a gentleman like he was, he couldn't possibly refuse the request of young woman like Corona, even if it was odd.

"=*="

Earlier on that afternoon, just after his tea 'date' with Corona, Hunter was on the prowle for another of his friends to aid his cause. Sure, this wasn't an overly big opperation but it needed support, like his grampa had always told him 'Always be prepared because you never know what will happen'.

His search led him to Prince Lumen's hid-a-way in the more private area of the gardens.

This area was dence with foliage from all over the kindom. In piticular was a fast growing plant called 'bumble weed' which presented tiny white and gold flowers and apparently, could be made into a type of jam. He'd never had any of it, but rumor said it was gorgious.

Lumen just prefered to look at it, so naturally he was always found in any area which seemed to have an abundance of the stuff.

Hunter spotted him kneeling infront of the tanled plants pawing gentlly at the petals of one of the flowers. He looked less than interested.

"Ah, Hunter, nice to see you! I was about to come and find you! I have an urgent mission for you." The prince's smile didn't touch his eyes nor did he make any effort to give Hunter any attension.

"Eh? Well actually I really needed to tal-"

"It's not an attack mission, Hunter. Actually it's much closer to home." He turned at this point. "I trust you have noticed the recent abnormalities in Igneous' behaviour, yes?"

"That was what I was wantin' to talk about..."

"Igneous has lived here for long time, I've known him nearly all my days and think of him as more of a brother than a knight or even a fellow spider rider."

Hunter stayed quiet as he listened to the growing concern in Lumen's voice.

"As such it hurts me to see him so upset. He won't talk about it -being as stubborn as he is- but perhaps there exists some way to cure whaat ails him."

Hunter let out an "Oh," before remembering what he was going to ask. "Prince Lumen, you said you know him really well..." Lumen nodded. "Well, from what I gather, Slate's arrival here has something to do with it. Do know what happened between those two?"

"Hmm... It's not my place to say."

"But you're a prince, can't you just use your authority as an excuse?"

Lumen shook his head chuckling slightly. "No, I promised Igneous I would not tell another living soul about that time..."

"What time?"

"The one where...Oh-ho, try something else Hunter you won't catch me out with that one!" Hunter inwardly cused at himself, _so close! And yet so far_...

"Well, whatever! That doesn't really matter right now." Said Hunter cutting to the point. "In my genious I concocted a plan to accomplish this mission."

"So soon?" The comment sounded almost sarcastic.

"You're not the only one worried about Igneous. Anyway, I've pretty much figured everything out except how to get Igneous involved..." Lumen chuckled again.

"I'm not surprised, Igneous is nothing if not sharpe. It will take a lot of effort to catch him out. But fair's fair. Tell me your plan and I will use my most cunning tactics to draw him in..."

"=*="


End file.
